Photographic meanderings

Late afternoon light on the face of Half Dome. Taken from the parking lot at Curry Village on January 2, 2010.

As a resident of Yosemite, I am fortunate to meet extraordinary people who also have a deep connection with this place. This ongoing series is meant to spotlight remarkable people who’ve had a positive impact on my life in this glorious park.

David is a videographer and photographer specializing in filming and photographing the wildlife of Yosemite, with a special emphasis on birds of prey.

His blog is updated almost daily with images, and it’s an adventure trying to figure out his place names! David carries more gear with him than anybody I know. I will also always remember our trip to Death Valley on a whim last October, and his prosaic posture at Zabriskie Point, and his exuberance at seeing a coyote.

Follow David as he chases Coop and Cedar on the valley floor at Tree In The Door Flora and Fauna blog

In closing, here’s a shot of a little bird I saw recently on the Old Big Oak Flat road, just for David!

The Big Meadow Fire Report is out. You can view the PDF here Big Meadow Prescribed Fire Review (PDF)

I’d love to hear what others have to say about this review. Please feel free to comment on your take on it. Just limit your use of vulgarity and profanity.

This old road was closed in May of 1945 after a severe rockfall. Today it is a hiking trail, with spectacular views interspaced between canyon oaks, talus debris, and gully washes.

More history on this road can be found by clicking this finely-crafted hypertext link: Big Oak Flat Road History on Wikisource.org

It won’t be long now before the setting sun begins illuminating the eastern end of the El Capitan wall, and turning that ephemeral waterfall into a technicolor spectacle. Once again, I’m of the mind that the waterfall is pixel worthy even outside the prime-time of the second and third weeks of February.

Yes, I’ll be out at the El Capitan picnic area after work starting at the end of January. This year I hope to have a stainless steel thermos full of coffee, instead of trying to brew coffee on the spot.

See you there!

I’ve changed the metadata presets on LightRoom, started a new catalog and made it the default, reset the file numbering on my camera, and installed a 1TB hard drive in my old Mac G4. This year I want to improve my post-processing skills, focusing on B&W images. I also want to improve my understanding of what I consider the math of photography–but I’m not sure where to start.

I also want to learn how to use the video feature on my Canon T1i; I think a basic understanding of film making may help my still image work. I’m not really interested in becoming a videographer, but a broad knowledge base can inform your speciality.

I’m trying to come up with a plan for backing up my hard drives; especially my photos. At the risk of sounding paranoid, I really must consider what I would do in an emergency here in Yosemite. We’ve had fires, rockfalls and floods here in the past that have lead to evacuations. While I live a very spare life, there are some things that are irreplaceable, my photos being one of them.

Finally, I’ll be in the market for a Mac Pro Intel Quad Core machine very soon. I can’t afford a new one, but I’ve been lurking on eBay to get an idea of prices for used and refurbished units. Should any of my readers know of one, I’d love to hear from you. It must be Intel processor, at least 2 duo-cores. I want to upgrade to LightRoom 3, Snow Leopard, and try out Google Chrome, all of which require Intel processors. It doesn’t matter what software is loaded on it, but it would be nice if it were already running Snow Leopard. Hard drive space isn’t that big a deal, either, SATA drives are cheap. It should have 2 Gb RAM, though. An Airport Extreme card would be sweet, but I won’t kvetch if it doesn’t have one.

Here’s to a new year and a new decade. Here’s to constant improvement, and getting better as time goes on.

Just a reminder, folks–be sure to change your meta data presets to ©2010!

All the best for the new year and new decade. Here are my New Year’s resolutions:

1. Be Safe.
2. Have Fun.
3. Remember this: If you don’t breathe, you’ll die.

I make a really mean hot buttered rum. How mean is it? It’s the kind of mean you want on your side. Today was my seventh consecutive day in a row working, which means that I am going to have a kick-tuchas pay check come January 8th. It also means that I may possibly be working for 9 days in a row, and possibly even longer! But what it means right now is that I was tired and sore and cold when I got back to my little closet-room. After shucking the heavy boots, peeling off the uniform and turning up the heat, first order of business was to fire up the tiny drip-coffee maker with some plain water.

Then I went outside and had a smoke with the Highland court denizens around a lovely warm briquet fire, emptied my gigantic coffee mug, and recounted old Navy/Army/Marine stories with the old codgers.

Back inside, my little melita coffee maker chugged and gurgled, and when I returned I had a small carafe of very hot water.

A teaspoon of real butter, a double-spoonful of dark brown sugar, a splash of rum. Are you paying attention? We’re almost at the sekrit ingredient. Pay attention!

Rum is important. For choice, I prefer Pyrat, or Goslings. Captain Morgan Spiced Rum will do in a pinch, especially when the nearest place to get Pyrat or Goslings is 2-5 hours drive away. It should be dark rum.

OK, so I’ve got my coffee mug with the dollop of butter, two dollops of dark brown sugar, and a healthy splash of dark rum. Add the hot water, and stir briskly until the butter is melted.

Still paying attention? Here it comes, the sekrit ingredient: A sprinkle of “Garam Masala” spice mixture from Whole Foods.

Sip slowly. It will erase the aches and pains of the day. Ahhhh…bliss. Happy New Year, everybody!

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ARbitrarily chosen favorites from 2009. Enjoy!